Saturday, April 16, 2005

Bloomberg: Independent of Independence?

After some anti-Israel remarks NY Independence Party leader Lenora Fulani made in 1995 were dredged up this week, Mayor Bloomberg cameunderfire for not distancing himself from her quickly enough. Apparently, Fulani's comments included the statement that Jews "had to sell their soul to aquire Israel" and had to "function as murderers of people of color to keep it." After she refused to disavow her comments, Bloomberg finally distanced himself from her, calling her remarks "phenomally offensive". The question is, however, whether this will cost Bloomberg the endorsement of the Independence Party and the 59,000 votes it got him last time around, which was more than his margin of victory. The mayor's fellow Republican, Governor Pataki, was at the front of the pack with his condemnation of Fulani, calling on her to immediately apologize.

"Lenora Fulani has to either apologize for her remarks or understand that they cannot be tolerated because anti-Semitism has no place anywhere in the world, and certainly not in the city and state of New York," said Pataki.